U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

SITKA’S 

NATIONAL HISTORIC 

LANDMARKS

A Window into Alaska’s Past

‡ Facing Page: Detail, Looking Southeast from Sitka, Alaska, 1891. Oil painting by James Everett Stuart. 

Image courtesy University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, Alaska.

National Historic Landmarks

Sitka is among the most historical and picturesque communities in Alaska, and its residents take pride in the preservation of this rich heritage. Recognition for Sitka’s historic places includes the 

listing of more than 20 properties on the National Register of Historic Places.* Eight of these properties 

which includes individual buildings, sites, and districts are of national significance and are designated 

National Historic Landmarks (NHLs). NHLs comprise some of our nation’s most important prehistoric 

and historic cultural resources. 

The National Park Service administers the NHL Program for the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The 

NHL Program focuses attention on historic and archeological resources of exceptional value to the nation 

by recognizing and promoting the preservation efforts of private organizations, individuals, as well as local, 

state, and federal agencies. Designation of NHLs also furthers the educational objective of the Historic 

Sites Act of 1935 by increasing public awareness and interest in historic properties. Of the 2,500 NHLs 

nationwide, 49 are in Alaska. They are an irreplaceable legacy.

Artifacts and historic archeological sites are an important part of our national heritage and are protected by federal and state laws. 

It is illegal to excavate, damage, remove, sell, or transport archeological and historic resources located on federal or state land without 

proper permits. 

For more information on the National Historic Landmarks Program please visit http://www.nps.gov/nhl/

*The Sitka Historical Society and Museum provides an “Historic Sites of Sitka” map that identifies the National Register listed properties 

in Sitka and is available at: http://sitkahistory.org/index.shtml

Credits: The National Park Service-Alaska Regional Office, National Historic Landmarks Program prepared this booklet with contributions by Chris Allan 

and edited by Janet Clemens. Design/layout by Archgraphics. Booklet photographs are courtesy of NPS except as noted. Historical source information 

is from the Sitka National Historical Park brochure and the National Historic Landmark nominations. Copies of the NHL nominations, as well as Alaska NHL 

related publications, are available at: http://www.nps.gov/akso/history/nhl-main.cfm.

Printed 2013

‡ Russian Bishop’s House 

NHL window detail. Photograph Historic American Buildings Survey.
C

D

G B

E

F

H Designated National Historic Landmarks:

Russian Bishop’s House

Sheldon Jackson School

St. Michael’s Cathedral

Building No. 29

American Flag Raising Site (Castle Hill)

Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall

Sitka U.S. Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses 

Old Sitka

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

SITKA

NATIONAL

HISTORICAL

PARK

Swan 

Lake

DeGroff Street

Sawmill Creek Road

Sawmill Creek Road

Lincoln Street

Lincoln

Sitka 

Sound

Street

Indian River

Monastery Street

Battle of 

Sitka Site

1804

Kiks.ádi Fort Site

Marine Street

Seward Street

Kogwanton Street

O’Connell Bridge

Japonski 

Island

To Old

Sitka, 

I 7 miles

Cresent Harbor

Halibut Point Road

0 0.1 0.2 Kilometers

p 0 0.1 Miles 

N

Sitka 

Channel

Katlian Street

Harbor

Drive

Lake

Street

Cathedral 

Way
Sitka’s National Historic Landmarks: A Window into Alaska’s Past

Sitka’s National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) provide a truly unique look into Alaska’s past. Collectively, Sitka’s eight NHLs illustrate significant stories and events that occurred over a 200-year time 

span. Sitka is also remarkable for its geographic concentration of NHLs. The authenticity of these places is 

further enhanced by Sitka’s natural coastal splendor and lack of major modern developments which provides a 

continuity of setting, inviting the Sitka visitor to slip back into its history. 

The Tlingit Indians were well established in the region when representatives of the Russian-American 

Company arrived in 1799. The Tlingits were at once welcoming and wary of the strangers who brought desirable trade items, like iron tools and cotton clothing, but who also violated Tlingit territorial claims. Old Sitka NHL, seven miles north of 

town, serves as a dramatic reminder of the clash between Alaska Natives and the Russians. The Tlingit initially prevailed. Two years later, 

the Tlingit fought the Russians in the Battle of Sitka, commemorated by today’s Sitka National Historical Park. This was the last major act 

of resistance by the Tlingits.

Once the Russians gained a foothold in Sitka (known by the Tlingit as Shee At ́iká) they opened the door to additional colonizing 

forces. The Russian Bishop’s House NHL and St. Michael’s Cathedral NHL represent the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church on 

Alaska’s Native peoples. Building Number 29 NHL, a structure that served as kitchen, bakery, laundry, and residence to dozens of Russian-American Company employees, is a reminder that Sitka was the Russian-American capital and a major Pacific Rim trading center.

Castle Hill, once a Tlingit village site and subsequently a Russian fortress, played a pivotal role in Sitka’s history as the American

Flag Raising Site NHL. It is where, in 1867, Russian officials officially transferred ownership of Alaska to the U. S. The Sheldon Jackson 

School NHL reflects the missionary educational philosophy of the early 20th century, when children were compelled to leave their Native 

villages and abandon their cultural traditions. The school’s emphasis on self-improvement, however, also helped to foster a new political 

movement. Many Alaska Native leaders were graduates of the Sheldon Jackson School such as the founders of the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB). The Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall NHL is the physical legacy of ANB’s instrumental role in fighting discrimination and 

securing rights for Alaska’s Native people. And, across Sitka Channel from the ANB Hall is Japonski Island and the former Sitka Naval 

Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses NHL which remains a prominent reminder of Alaska’s role in defending the North Pacific 

against enemy attack during World War II. 

Ownership of Sitka’s NHLs is diverse and includes private individuals, non-profit organizations, and state and federal agencies.

Sitka
Arrival of the Russians prompted an uneasy relationship with 

the established Tlingit residents. The first clash came in 1802, at the 

Old Sitka site. The Tlingit and Russians also fought again two years later, 

as depicted in this illustration. The site of the 1804 battle is just south of 

today’s downtown and within Sitka National Historical Park.

‡ Detail: Battle of Sitka (1804) painted by Louis S. Glanzman, 1988. 

Image courtesy of D. Curl, Sitka National Historical Park collection..
Old Sitka National Historic Landmark

Then: Old Sitka NHL is the former site of a fortified fur trading post called New Archangel Saint Michael, established by the Russians in 1799 under the direction of Russian-American Company manager Alexander Baranov. Baranov who came to Southeast Alaska 

from Kodiak with a contingent of Russian traders and Aleut and Alutiiq hunters, negotiated 

with the local Tlingits for land on which to build a fort. Though Baranov initially favored the 

Castle Hill site within present-day Sitka, he agreed to settle at the Old Sitka site in the hope 

of preserving amicable relations with the Tlingit. The Russians hoped that by establishing the 

post they would be able to sustain their profits from sea otter fur and gain an enduring foothold 

in this region. The physical layout of the post included several log structures clustered tightly 

around a stockade and surrounded by a fort wall. 

Though at first the trading post seemed to benefit both parties, relations between the 

Russians and the Tlingits quickly deteriorated. Historians have identified several of the causes 

of increasing Tlingit animosity toward the Russians which included incidents of grave-robbing, 

desecration of graves, arresting and holding Tlingits in iron, as well as the Russian and Aleut 

exploitation of Tlingit hunting grounds. A final incident sparked the coming together of several 

Tlingit groups who joined forces, estimated at 600 warriors, to attack Fort St. Michael in 1802. 

The Russians and Aleuts at the fort were unprepared for the assault and many were killed as 

their settlement was ransacked. Survivors fled to the Russian outpost on Kodiak Island.

A larger force of Russians returned to the island in 1804 to avenge the Tlingit attack and 

to establish a new community at the present-day townsite of Sitka. Old Sitka was never again 

home to a major settlement. In the years that followed, the site was used periodically as a Native 

camping area. An American salmon cannery operated at the site from 1878 to 1883. 

Old Sitka was designated an NHL in 1962; this status was reaffirmed in 2009, based on 

new documentation as a battlefield.

‡ As Russian fur traders advanced eastward 

along Alaska’s southern coast, they buried 

metal plates to consolidate their claims. The 

plate above, which reads “Land of Russian 

Possession,” was excavated near the site of 

Old Sitka.

Now: Old Sitka is managed as an Alaska State Historical Park located at Starrigavan Bay. Visitors can learn about the history of Old Sitka from the interpretive panels 

located at the site of New Archangel Saint Michael (Fort St. Michael). The historical park is 

located seven miles north of downtown Sitka, 

via Halibut Point Road. 

For more information about the Old Sitka 

State Historical Park visit: http://dnr.alaska.

gov/parks/aspunits/southeast/oldsitkaahp.

htm
‡ Right: Painting of Saint Innocent (Veniaminov) who spent 15 

years in Alaska (in Unalaska and Sitka) as a Russian Orthodox 

Church missionary and leader. His work included learning 

and translating several Alaska Native languages, designing 

cathedrals, and providing oversight of the Russian school 

(Russian Bishop’s House). Image courtesy of the Alaska State 

Library, ASL Portrait Files, Veniaminov-Ivan-3.

‡ The Russian Bishop’s House, commonly known as the Russian school or orphanage. c. 1890. 

Photograph courtesy Alaska State Library, Early Prints of Alaska, P297-105.
Russian Bishop’s House National Historic Landmark

Then: The two-story log Russian Bishop’s House served as the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sitka and the residence of the bishop, as well as office, mission 

school, and the bishop’s personal chapel. 

The first officials of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived in Sitka in 1834 with Father 

Veniaminov, a priest who had spent 10 years at Unalaska studying the language and customs of 

the Aleut people. In 1838, while raising funds for the Alaska missions, Veniaminov so impressed Nicholas I with stories of the American Colony that the tsar ordered the creation of a 

new diocese encompassing Kamchatka and Alaska. He then named Veniaminov the first bishop 

of the diocese. During the same trip, Veniaminov took monastic vows and, before returning to 

Alaska, adopted the name Innocent.

The chief manager of the Russian-American Company at the time, Adolf Etolin, directed 

the construction of the Russian Bishop’s new home in 1843. Finnish shipwrights used local 

spruce and Yellow Cedar in addition to energy saving elements such as sand-insulated subfloors 

and ceilings. Bishop Innocent was pleased with the result, stating that, “[The house] is in its 

architecture one of the best, most solid and most beautiful structures in New Archangel.” The 

building included priests’ quarters, seminary classrooms, a kitchen, and the office of the consistory of the North American Bishopric. The upper floor of the building, reserved for Bishop 

Innocent, included a private chapel in addition to living, and eating quarters.

The Bishop’s House was owned by the Russian-American Company until the U.S. purchased Alaska, at which time the building was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church 

in North America. Though Russian governance and commercial interests in Alaska ceased in 

1867, Russian Orthodoxy continued to have a lasting impact in Alaska, especially among the 

Native people. 

The Russian Bishop’s House was designated an NHL in 1962.

Now: In 1972, the Russian Bishop’s House was purchased by the National Park Service and restoration work began. 

There have been no major changes in the basic plan of the building since its construction, 

though the side galleries were demolished and 

rebuilt in 1887. 

Today the Russian Bishop’s House is part of Sitka National Historical Park. 

After 15 years of work, much of the building 

has been restored to its 1853 appearance. It 

is among the best surviving examples of a 

19th-Century Russian residence in the U.S. 

Visitors are encouraged to tour the bishop’s 

quarters and chapel and to view exhibits on 

Russian-America.

For information on Sitka National Historical 

Park, please visit: http://www.nps.gov/sitk/

index.htm.
‡ Model of St. Michael’s Church, Sitka, 

ca. 1908. Detail of photograph courtesy Alaska State Library, Elbridge W. 

Merrill, photographs, P57-046.

‡ Early Russian Orthodox Church, Sitka, Alaska 1886.

Photograph courtesy Alaska State Library, William R. 

Norton, photographs, P226-361.
St. Michael’s Cathedral National Historic Landmark

Then: The original St. Michael’s Cathedral was designed by Bishop Innocent and constructed between 1844 and 1848, with funding from the Russian-American Company. 

The bishop designed and built a wrought-iron clock for the cathedral’s tower, where bells, cast in 

a local foundry, were rung. 

From 1840 to 1872, Sitka was the seat of the Russian Orthodox Diocese, which governed 

all of North America and, thereafter, it continued as the Seat of the Diocese of Alaska. 

In 1966 a fire swept through downtown Sitka. Residents managed to save most of the 

cathedral’s icons, furniture, and other valuables before the inferno claimed the building. Regrettably, Innocent’s clock and the church bells were lost. Soon after the fire, workers meticulously 

reconstructed the cathedral using drawings that had been prepared as part of an Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). 

This outstanding example of Russian church architecture was by far the largest and most 

imposing religious edifice in Alaska until well into the 20th century.

St. Michael’s Cathedral is significant for its association with Bishop Innocent, its role in 

the expansion of Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska, its icons and artifacts, and its importance as a 

centerpiece to the community of Sitka. The plan of the single-story church takes the shape of 

a cruciform, with the main altar at the center and wings at either side accommodating secondary altars. A steeple with a gilded cross tops the cathedral. The building’s design incorporates 

elements of Italian Rococco, a style popular in Russia during the early 19th century.

The chapel on the left side of St. Michael’s Cathedral was dedicated to Our Lady of Kazan, 

and the chapel on the right was dedicated to St. John until 1978, when it was rededicated to the 

canonized Bishop Innocent. Between the main chapel and the back of the cathedral is a screen 

called an iconostasis, adorned with silver, icons, and religious objects. 

St. Michael’s Cathedral was designated an NHL in 1962. 

Now: Located in the heart of downtown Sitka, St. Michael’s Cathedral 

continues to attract a loyal congregation. It is 

frequently the first stop for visitors eager for a 

chance to glimpse the icons and liturgical finery that reflects its Russian past. 

Many of the icons in St. Michael’s were donated by wealthy Russians and 

Imperial officials when Innocent travelled to 

Moscow in 1838-1840. Perhaps the most notable icon portrays Our Lady of Kazan, also 

known as the Sitka Madonna. Visitors are 

asked to respect the sanctity of the altar.
‡ Background: View of Sitka before 1884. Main street view photographed 

from the Russian Orthodox Church. Building 29 (#1), with its four gable 

dormers, is circled. Original photograph taken by Will Lockwood, The Photo 

Shop Studio, Juneau. Photograph from Sitka National Historical Park Collection, Negative number 1662.

‡ Right: An iconic image during the Russian America time period was this symbol for the Russian coat of arms - a double-headed eagle with imperial crowns, 

and a depiction of St. George slaying 

a dragon. Photograph courtesy of the 

Alaska State Museum, Juneau [ASMIII-R-150].

B
Russian-American Building No. 29 National Historic Landmark

Then: The Russian-American Company constructed Building Number 29 (locally known as the Tilson Building and the Log Cache) to house company employees in the early 

1850s. The stout, two-story log structure is one of only four surviving buildings constructed 

during the Russian-American colonial period in North America. Three are in Alaska, including 

the Russian Bishop’s House in Sitka and the Russian-American Company Magazin (Baranov 

Museum) in Kodiak, and the fourth is the Rotchev House at Fort Ross, California. Building 

No. 29 is also a rare example of Russian-American colonial architecture. At the time of its construction, the Russian capital at Sitka was the center of civil administration, trade, and manufacturing for Russia’s American colonies, stretching from the Aleutian Islands and Interior Alaska 

to Fort Ross in California with fortifications in Hawaii. During the 1850s, the Russian-American Company sold ice to gold seekers in San Francisco, fish and lumber to Hawaii and California, and engaged in whaling and coal mining enterprises. 

Life for the employees of the Russian-American Company was largely communal. Building 

No. 29 accommodated multiple living quarters, as well as a corporate kitchen, bakery, laundry, 

and storage facilities. The building was constructed of massive spruce logs, harvested, hewn, and 

assembled by company craftsmen. Sawdust and gravel behind sailcloth served as insulation, and 

mosses from local muskeg were used as chinking. The craftsmen were likely Finnish shipbuilders 

brought to Sitka in the early 1840s by Adolf Etolin, a Russian-American Company manager 

originally from Finland. 

When the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia, Building No. 29 became home to several 

important government officials. In the 1880s, the building underwent extensive renovations 

in a Colonial Revival style. Early in the 20th century the building was used (as it is now) with 

commercial retail space on the lower level and living quarters above. 

Building No. 29 was designated an NHL in 1987.

It is still possible to view the original log construction on the left side of the building, where the siding has been cut away and 

see-through plexiglass put in place. 

‡ Photograph courtesy of Dirk HR Spennemann, 

2010.

Now: The building on Lincoln Street is privately owned and continues to 

serve as a commercial building in downtown Sitka. 
‡ New Archangel (Sitka) drawing by Aleksandr 

Postels, 1827, from Fedor Petrovich Litke’s voyage of the Senyavin. Image courtesy of the Alaska State Library, Alaska and Arctic-Related Illustrations, P62-278.
American Flag Raising Site National Historic Landmark

Then: On October 18, 1867, Russian and American dignitaries gathered at Castle Hill. Amidst cannonades and official proclamations, the Russian flag was lowered and the American flag 

raised, signaling the transfer of Alaska to the United States (officially known as the American Flag Raising Site). This event also marked the U.S. government’s first expansion into non-contiguous territory.

Castle Hill has long been recognized as an important historic place. When Russian ships arrived 

in 1799, the Kiks.ádi Tlingits were living in a village near the base of Castle Hill and had built defensive 

structures atop the promontory they called Noow Tlein or “Big Fort.” Alexander Baranov, the chief 

manager of the Russian-American Company, saw the strategic advantage of the site but appeased the 

Tlingits by establishing the Russian fur trading fort several miles to the north instead. In 1804, after 

Tlingit warriors attacked and destroyed the Russian redoubt at Old Sitka, Baranov returned from 

Kodiak to retaliate against the Tlingits at Castle Hill, only to find the Sitka village had been evacuated. 

The Tlingits had retreated to a newly constructed fort at the mouth of the Indian River (located within 

today’s Sitka National Historical Park). After claiming the Sitka village and Castle Hill, the Russians 

managed to drive the Tlingits from Indian River, and they withdrew from the area, at least temporarily. 

Between 1806 and 1867, the Russians made Sitka the seat of government for Russian America, 

constructing administrative and residential buildings on Castle Hill. In 1837, a two-story timber residence was constructed atop the hill and became known as Baranov’s Castle, though Baranov had died 

almost two decades earlier. In the decades that followed the U.S. purchase of Alaska, Castle Hill served 

as the U.S. military headquarters and as an administrative center. An U.S. Department of Agriculture 

headquarters building, constructed in 1900, served many uses in the growing community before its 

demolition in 1955. 

After Alaska was admitted to statehood in 1959, a flag with 49 stars was raised for the first time 

on Castle Hill. In commemoration of Alaska’s centennial, a flag pole, six Russian cannons, and a stone 

parapet were installed on Castle Hill in 1967.

The American Flag Raising Site was designated an NHL in 1962.

Now: Castle Hill is managed as an Alaska State Historic Site and continues to be a popular viewing site. 

I n 1997, while preparing to build a ramp to the top of Castle Hill, investigators 

uncovered a treasure trove of artifacts from 

Tlingit, Russian, and American occupation 

of the site, including lead seals bearing the 

Russian-American Company logo, spruce 

root baskets, timbers and bricks, shoes, 

ceramic shards, blown glassware, cannon 

balls, gunflints, trade beads, and tools. 

I n 2011, the State prepared the Baranof Castle Hill State Historic Site Preservation Plan available at: http://dnr.alaska.

gov/parks/plans/finalcastlehillplan.pdf

‡ Photograph courtesy Alaska State Parks.
‡ Industrial Training School group, Presbyterian 

Mission, Sitka (Sheldon Jackson School), ca. 

1890s/early 1900s. Photograph courtesy of the 

Alaska State Library, William A. Kelly, P427-71.

‡ Sheldon Jackson School, 1931. Photograph courtesy of Alaska and Polar Regions 

Collections, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Sheldon Jackson School National Historic Landmark

Then: The history of Sheldon Jackson School begins with the arrival of Presbyterian missionaries after the 1867 U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia. Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary and 

theology graduate from Princeton University, was one of the first to recruit fellow missionaries for work in 

Alaska. Jackson’s belief in the need to assimilate American Natives made him a tireless advocate of Alaska 

Native education. Before the construction of the existing campus, Sheldon Jackson’s school was known 

as the Sitka Mission, Sheldon Jackson Institute, the Industrial Home for Boys, and the Sitka Industrial 

Training School. The school operated under Jackson’s direction with the support of the Presbyterian 

Women’s Board of Home Missions, providing academic education and industrial training for Native 

students throughout Alaska, though primarily for Southeast Alaska Tlingit and Haida. As was the case 

elsewhere in the U.S., the cultural ramifications of missionary education were profound for both the Native 

students and their communities. Christian dogma, a prohibition on Native languages, and the school’s 

Western curriculum required students to adopt the newly dominant Euro-American culture and economic 

system at the expense of their traditional cultures. At the same time, the school’s emphasis on self-improvement helped to foster a new political movement among the Tlingit and Haida of Southeast Alaska. Many 

of Alaska’s Native leaders were graduates of Sheldon Jackson School, including the founders of the Alaska 

Native Brotherhood and members of the territorial legislature.

Built in 1910-11, Sheldon Jackson School remains the only formal campus plan in Alaska. The architectural firm of Ludlow and Peabody designed the campus, overlooking the harbor, by incorporating Craftsman 

and Western Stick architectural elements and arranging the buildings around a central quadrangle.

Over time the school amended its original charter to become a junior college, began admitting 

non-Native students, and changed its name to Sheldon Jackson College. The college closed in 2007 

and subsequently transferred the historic core campus buildings to Alaska Arts Southeast Inc. The 

community maintains a strong interest in preserving the historic campus, with support by the Sitka 

Historic Preservation Commission.

Sheldon Jackson School was designated an NHL in 2001.

Now: Located off Lincoln Drive and adjacent to Sitka National Historical 

Park, several of the largest historic buildings 

are used by the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, with 

activities that include a program to rehabilitate 

the buildings. Also contributing to the historic district is the Sage building, owned by the 

Sitka Sound Science Center, several privately 

owned cottages, and the octagonal-shaped 

Sheldon Jackson Museum. Built in 1895, it is 

the oldest museum in Alaska and is renowned 

for its Alaska ethnographic collection.

‡ Allen Auditorium on the former Sheldon 

Jackson College campus. Photograph courtesy 

of Katherine Ringsmuth, October 2012.
‡ Pictured are most of the founders of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, 1912. Left to Right: Paul Liberty, James Watson, Ralph Young, Eli Kalanvok 

(Katinook), Peter Simpson, Frank Mercer, James C. Jackson, Chester Worthington, George Fields, William Hobson, and Frank Price. Photograph 

courtesy Alaska State Library, Alaska Native Organizations, P33-01.
Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall National Historic Landmark

Now: The Alaska Native Brotherhood 

on Katlian Street continues to serve as a 

community hall. It is a gathering place for Sitkans and hosts numerous programs and events 

including the Sitka Native Education Program 

and the annual Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration. A 2010 appropriation by the Alaska 

State Legislature for $150,000 is supporting 

some much needed building repairs including 

structural work on the piling foundation.

Then: The Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, Sitka Camp No. 1, is the original local chapter of this Alaska-wide Native organization that, for most of the first half of the 20th-century, was the 

only such group representing Alaska Natives. 

The Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) organization was founded in 1912 by a group of predominately Tlingit and one Tshimshian who were determined to battle discrimination against Alaska’s 

Native people. The ANB encouraged Natives to educate themselves, to adopt Christian ways, and to 

use the political system to push for citizenship and land rights. In the ANB constitution they stated 

their desire “to oppose, discourage, and overcome the narrow injustice of race prejudice, and to aid in 

the development of the Territory of Alaska, making it worthy of a place among the States of North 

America.” The Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS) was established a few years later.

In 1914 the Sitka ANB meeting hall was built on land donated by the prominent Sitka Tlingit 

Katlian (K’alyaan), the grand-nephew of Chief Katlian, a leader of the Tlingits at the time of the Russian invasion. Most of the length of this 40 x 60 foot, two-story frame building projects over the waters 

of Sitka Channel and is supported by rows of pilings. The hall provided a venue for conventions and 

fundraising, as well as for social events and ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. 

Initially the ANB had local camps in Sitka, Juneau, and Douglas. By 1925 there were chapters in 

nearly every Southeast Alaska village. 

During its first years, the ANB along with its counterpart the ANS achieved many victories in 

extension of rights to Alaska’s Natives that should have been common to all citizens of the U.S. This included the right to Workmen’s Compensation and the right of Native children to attend public school. 

In 1929, ANB/ANS initiated what became the first Alaska Native land claims court suit. The ANB/

ANS were also successful in pushing the Alaska legislature to pass the first antidiscrimination law in the 

nation in 1946, twenty years before the national Civil Rights movement. 

The Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall was designated an NHL in 1978.
‡ Sitka Naval Operating Base, World War II era. Photograph courtesy of Isabel Miller Museum, Sitka, Alaska.
Sitka Naval Operating Base National Historic Landmark

Then: The Sitka Naval Operating Base was the site of the U.S. Navy’s first air station in Alaska, built to defend the U.S. during World War II against the threat of Japanese attack. In the 1930s, 

when military strategists began to recognize the need to defend the Pacific coast of the United States, 

Alaska was made the apex of a defense triangle that included Panama and Hawaii.

Japonski Island, located a short distance from downtown, over the O’Connell Bridge that spans 

Sitka Channel, was initially set aside as a U.S. Naval reservation in the 19th century. In 1939 the Navy 

formally commissioned Sitka Naval Air Station. Designed primarily for seaplanes, construction included a radio station, a naval section base, Marine barracks, and naval shore facilities. The Army Coast 

Artillery Corps protected the Navy Air Station. In 1942 the Air Station was redesignated a Naval 

Operating Base (NOB).

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Sitka NOB was placed on alert. 

Planes from the Sitka base patrolled Southeast Alaska waters looking for the enemy. Following the 

Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor and subsequent occupation of Kiska and Attu islands in June 1942, 

the U.S. military focused on reclaiming these islands by establishing a series of airfields progressively 

west. As the Aleutian Campaign unfolded, Sitka NOB declined in strategic importance. U.S. forces 

retook Attu in May 1943, and the Japanese evacuated Kiska on July 28, 1943. By 1944 the Sitka NOB 

was decommissioned.

In 1946, the property was transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which opened Mt. 

Edgecumbe School for Alaska Native children the following year.

Several key features of the base remain today, including a concrete aircraft parking area and runway located near the water’s edge; inland are two large metal aircraft hangars. Other features include 

piers, industrial buildings, administrative buildings, a recreation center, barracks, a mess hall, bachelor 

officer’s quarters, and family housing units.

The Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses (includes Fort Rousseau and 

the Causeway) was designated an NHL in 1986.

‡ World War II boat house with railway. 

Photograph courtesy of Dirk HR Spennemann, 

2010.

Now: The former WWII base buildings, located on Japonski Island, consists 

of multiple owners, most of who are involved 

with preservation efforts including: the Alaska Department of Education (maintaining 

the public boarding high school); U.S. Coast 

Guard (construction of the Cutter Support 

building); Sitka Maritime Heritage Society 

(rehabilitating the boat house); and Sitka Trail 

Works, Inc. (instrumental in seeing the establishment of the Fort Rousseau Causeway State 

Historic Site and overseeing its restoration).
‡ Sitka - View of the town from the South-West, Mt. Edgecumb bearing East, ca. 1860. 

Watercolor on paper by Lt. Schreiben. Gift of William Hulbert, 1987— one of four paintings 

of Sitka from several directions given as a wedding gift to Eugenia Klinkovstrem, youngest 

daughter of Martin Fedorovich Klinkovstrem, a navigator and agent for the Russian American 

Company from 1838 to 1867. Image courtesy of the Alaska State Museum, Juneau, V-A-50-4.
‡ Above: Lovers Lane and Mt. Edgecumbe, 

Sitka, Alaska courtesy of Alaska State 

Library, George Family collection, PCA-344-

342. (Detail of this photograph serves as 

front cover image.)

‡ At left: examples of Sitka HABs documentation (clockwise from top): drawing 

of Building No. 29; photograph of Alaska 

Native Brotherhood Hall from the waterfront; and photograph of Sitka Naval Operating Base.

More about Sitka’s National Historic Landmarks

Drawings and photographs for many of the Sitka NHL Buildings can be 

found on-line at the Library of Congress 

website that houses the Historic American 

Buildings Survey (HABS)/Historic American Engineering Survey (HAER) collection 

at: www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/
National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Alaska Regional Office

CHRONOLOGY OF SITKA’S NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS

1799 Tlingits already established on Shee (Baranof Island) when Russians arrive to build a fur 

trading fort New Archangel Saint Michael at Old Sitka 

1802 Tlingits attack and destroy Russian fort at Old Sitka

1804 Russians defeat Tlingits at Battle of Sitka; New Archangel founded at present-day Sitka 

1834 Father Ivan Veniaminov arrives in New Archangel 

1843 Russian Bishop’s House erected as center of new diocese under Veniaminov

1848 St. Michael’s Cathedral is built in the city center

1850s Building Number 29 is constructed for Russian-American Company workers 

1867 Transfer of Alaska to the U.S. with American Flag Raising at Castle Hill

1911 Sheldon Jackson School formal campus is constructed

1910 Sitka National Monument is designated 

1914 Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall is constructed

1939 Navy begins construction of the Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses 

(decommissioned 1944) 

1966 St. Michael’s Cathedral destroyed by fire and rebuilt 

1972 Sitka National Historical Park is designated

2005 Sitka is designated a Preserve America Community—providing national recognition of the 

community’s work in protecting and celebrating Sitka’s heritage

CHRONOLOGY OF SITKA’S NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS

1799 Tlingits already established on Shee (Baranof Island) when Russians arrive to build a fur 

trading fort New Archangel Saint Michael at Old Sitka 

1802 Tlingits attack and destroy Russian fort at Old Sitka

1804 Russians defeat Tlingits at Battle of Sitka; New Archangel founded at present-day Sitka 

1834 Father Ivan Veniaminov arrives in New Archangel 

1843 Russian Bishop’s House erected as center of new diocese under Veniaminov

1848 St. Michael’s Cathedral is built in the city center

1850s Building Number 29 is constructed for Russian-American Company workers 

1867 Transfer of Alaska to the U.S. with American Flag Raising at Castle Hill

1911 Sheldon Jackson School formal campus is constructed

1910 Sitka National Monument is designated 

1914 Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall is constructed

1939 Navy begins construction of the Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses 

(decommissioned 1944) 

1966 St. Michael’s Cathedral destroyed by fire and rebuilt 

1972 Sitka National Historical Park is designated

2005 Sitka is designated a Preserve America Community—providing national recognition of the 

community’s work in protecting and celebrating Sitka’s heritage